Matchday 3 review

Although some of the big teams were able to bounce back from their minor setbacks experienced last week, this matchday still produced plenty of excitement in a set of fixtures hallmarked by an Escher Derby, among other interesting viewings.

(Still) No luck for Fola

An impressive 1,407 spectators decided to visit Jeunesse’s pitch near the French border to witness another Escher derby, of which the black-and-whites haven’t lost any of the last five. The last Fola win on such occasion was celebrated in April 2022, when then-captain Julien Klein scored the only goal of the day.

Despite their historic successes, Fola were once again viewed as heavy underdogs coming into the derby. Stefano Bensi’s team managed to stay up last season, winning the relegation play-off game with the youngest squad and strictest resources from the division. Their financial problems were somewhat eased by getting some of the higher-earning players off the bills and maintaining their place in the top flight, but the lack of real improvements within the playing squad was apparent.

Jeunesse, on the other hand, have been building an ambitious squad under manager Marc Thomé, who has already had a fruitful spell in charge of the club from 2017 to 2019. Some of this summer’s arrivals, like former Niederkorn winger Antonio Luisi, looked ready to make an impact straight away, getting off to a good start and registering goals in the first two appearances already. This is a team that plays with enough freedom to be a joy to watch at their best.

Such freedom was easy to spot on Sunday, too. It took less than 10 minutes for the hosts to take the lead, from Alexandre Arenate’s header from new signing Achraf Drif’s delivery. Former Hesper attacker Drif had a particularly prolific game, later assisting Gonçalo Almeida from a cutback to make it 2-1.

Right before half-time, midfielder João Teixeira scored directly from a free kick to double Jeunesse’s lead, in only his third game at the club following a move from title holders Swift Hesper. After what could well be called the goal of the week, the home side could await for the second half confidently.

In that second 45, Fola’s chances were further hampered by star striker Kévin Quinol suffering an injury 20 minutes from the end, which required him to be taken off instantly. Ten minutes after the incident, yet another cutback from the left, carried out by Ahmed Mogni and substitute David Soares sealed the game for Jeunesse, who recorded their highest derby win since 2019, when they won at the Stade Émile Mayrisch by a scoreline of 2-5.

Hesper and F91 find winning ways

Two of last season’s top three fell to shock defeats last week - to Union Titus Pétange and Fola Esch, respectively - and the overall picture around the two clubs (although they are in very different circumstances) looked somewhat worrying for their fans.

Swift Hesper were widely expected to progress from their UEFA Europa Conference League 3rd round qualifier against North Macedonian champions Struga, but two penalties conceded in their first game did little to help that cause. Due to the difficulties that come with rotating a 35-strong squad sufficiently, some might feel manager Carlos Fangueiro made too many changes between European and domestic fixtures. Some gambles, particularly young goalkeeper Youn Czekanowicz’s place in the starting XI, backfired as he made a memorable blunder before the first conceded goal, and then later tripped a Macedonian player inside the box, resulting in a spot-kick. To lose to Union after that disappointing game was just the icing on the cake, and the emergence of the first cracks in the Fangueiro era.

At Dudelange, there were widespread player turnover, while manager Fangueiro was replaced by Jamath Shoffner, who used to play in the BGL Ligue before heading out to the United States to ignite his managerial career. In his first job as a head coach, Shoffner transformed a weakened team into a cohesive and dangerous unit, defeating St. Pat’s Athletic from Ireland in his first two competitive games. However, falling to an aggregate defeat against Maltese Gzira United looked to be enough to spark some confusion and desperation within the club, too, as Fola ended up getting the better of F91 in the league, when the record champions of the 21st century no longer had any European commitments.

For the above reasons, it was incredibly crucial for both teams to get back on track before the dressing room noises become too hard to ignore. Although neither of them spoiled their fans this time around, they got the much-needed three points, achieving the bare minimum.

Swift Hesper struggled to cope with a motivated, relentless Victoria Rosport at home, and probably would have missed out on at least two points without big name Moroccan striker Rachid Alioui. A former Ligue 1 player for Angers, Alioui contributed to his team’s success with two goals and an assist en route to a narrow 3-2 victory. One of his goals was a penalty, as he appears to be the new taker after two consecutive misses from Stolz against Slovan Bratislava and The New Saints. Stolz usually has steady feet when it comes to taking the responsibility from the spot, and he was always trusted with penalties even while former top scorer Rayan Philippe was at the club.

F91 had their own share of goalkeeper mistakes and shaky performances, so Didier Desprez lost his starting place to Luxembourger Enzo Esposito, who in turn kept a clean sheet against Racing Union this time. The youngest manager in the league at only 29, Marco Martino’s task wasn’t helped by an early injury by defender Daryl Myre, which forced him to an early substitution. When the experienced centre-back Delvin Skenderović was then sent off in the beginning of the second half, it all but decided the contest. Dudelange did well to pounce on the mistake and grab what might be seen as an easy three points for now.

Schifflange firing

Both newcomers enjoyed some sort of success finally, as Marisca Mersch were able to gain their first point (at home against Wiltz 71), while Schifflange are still unbeaten – this time they beat Progrès Niederkorn!

Whether Schifflange can keep their early-season form up for much longer and compete with the big guns is impossible to tell after 1/10 of the season, but they are getting off to a psychologically pivotal start by potentially putting the building blocks in place to a season of over-achievement. Many ageing players were poached from further up the league table in Mehdi Kirch, Kévin Nakache or Jonathan Hennetier, but so far the key player has to be young French marksman Téo Herr, who has been nothing short of unstoppable so far in 2023/24. So much so, that he is leading the scoring charts with 4 goals in 3 games, all of them coming from open play.

Niederkorn will definitely want to start paying more attention to the lesser-known teams and players in this league now, after surviving a scare last week beating Marisca 4-3, and now falling to a hopeless defeat against last year’s Ehrenpromotion champions.

But what Marisca couldn’t quite get against the Wasps, they made up for now, as they celebrated their first draw of the season on home soil. Wiltz 71 were always going to be ideal opponents to help break that deadlock, as the Reds are still finding their feet so far, starting with two defeats like Marisca.

The newly-promoted side’s goal was scored by striker Benny Bresch, top scorer of the second division last season, who, still in his prime, rejected many offers from bigger clubs to stay around and help the project in Mersch turn into what it looked like when they qualified for their first-ever cup final this May.

The home crowd was in awe at seeing their favourite open his account for 2023/24, in the hope he will help push the team to safety come the spring.

Around the pitches

Mondorf registered their first points for the season, in the most eventful game of the week as they produced a second-half turnaround to beat Käerjéng 5-3; Mondercange proved no obstacle for a rampant Differdange who keep winning; Union and Strassen limped to a draw, both teams exploiting amateur defending flaws.

As always, the games’ live commentaries, highlights and full video footage are all available on RTL.lu’s Live Arena hub.

The scorelines:

Marisca Mersch 1-1 Wiltz 71

Jeunesse Esch 4-1 Fola Esch

F91 Dudelange 2-0 Racing Union Luxembourg

Differdange 2-0 Mondercange

Mondorf 5-3 Käerjéng

Swift Hesper 3-2 Victoria Rosport

Schifflange 2-0 Progrès Niederkorn

Union Titus Pétange 2-2 UNA Strassen